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Post by Admin on May 12, 2021 8:47:47 GMT
DWP has held 150 reviews into deaths or harm caused to benefit claimants BBC investigation also reveals that 82 benefit claimants have died as a result of DWP actions. welfarejournal.com/dwp-has-held-150-reviews-into-deaths-or-harm-caused-to-benefit-claimants/Since 2012, the Department of Work and Pensions has conducted more than 150 investigations into the deaths or serious harm caused to benefit applicants, a BBC report has found. Additionally, the BBC investigation reports that 82 applicants died as a result of suspected DWP action such as benefit termination or reduction. According to the study, mental health vulnerabilities played a role in the deaths of 35 of those individuals. Labour MP Debbie Abrahams has called for an independent investigation into the Department of Work and Pensions’ involvement in these deaths and the avoidable damage caused to benefit claimants. Ms Abrahams said: “There needs to be an independent inquiry investigating why these deaths are happening and the scale of the deaths needs to be properly understood.” Leading charities and mental health organisations, including Disability Rights UK and the mental health charity MIND, have also called for an independent inquiry. The DWP stated in 2019 that it had formed a new Serious Case Panel to examine trends found in serious cases. Merry Varney and Tessa Gregory of Leigh Day are representing three families impacted by the DWP reviews. The families met with the BBC to discuss their experiences and the status of their cases in the legal system. Philippa Day, who had a long-standing mental health condition and was diabetic, died in October 2019 at the age of 27, two months after she was discovered collapsed at her Nottingham home. On 27 January 2021, Gordon Clow, HM Assistant Coroner for Nottinghamshire, concluded that Philippa’s difficulties with her disability insurance application were “the predominant…and the only factor” that drove her to take action on 8 August 2019 that proved fatal. Following the inquest, a letter of claim was sent to DWP and Capita alleging human rights violations and negligence on the part of DWP and Capita in connection with the events leading up to Philippa’s death and seeking justice for the wrongs suffered by Philippa and her family. DWP and Capita have three months to answer before High Court charges can be pursued. Jodey Whiting, 42, committed suicide on February 21, 2017. She had serious mental health issues and had her benefits terminated a fortnight beforehand for failing to attend a Work Capability Assessment, leaving her with zero income. Last year, the Attorney General consented to an appeal to the High Court for a new inquest into her death, which will be heard on 22 June 2021. Jodey’s mother has requested a new inquest to ensure that the DWP’s involvement in her daughter’s death is thoroughly investigated publicly. Merry Varney, a Leigh Day associate, represents the families of Jodey and Philippa. Errol Graham, 57, was discovered dead in June 2018, eight months after his benefits were terminated for failing to appear for a fit for work assessment. Mr Graham weighed four and a half stone when his body was discovered. In 2019, an inquest determined that DWP and NHS workers had ignored chances to save Graham, and the coroner concluded that “the safety net that should have surrounded vulnerable people like Errol in our community had gaps.” Mr Graham’s family, represented by Tessa Gregory of Leigh Day, has filed an application with the Court of Appeal following the failure of their judicial review challenging the legality of the DWP’s safeguarding policies. The family argues that Errol’s benefits were terminated unlawfully in 2017 and that the DWP’s safeguarding procedures and processes should be overhauled to offer better security to vulnerable welfare applicants who, like Errol, suffer from mental health problems. Ken Butler, Welfare Rights and Policy Adviser at Disability Rights UK, said: “Disabled people had their benefits cut and suffered fear and anxiety due to poor and inaccurate medical assessments carried out on behalf of the DWP by the private contractors Capita, the Independent Assessment Services (formerly called Atos) and Maximus.”
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Post by Admin on May 15, 2021 0:50:09 GMT
DWP boss signals Universal Credit cut for millions UK government told plan "will pull hundreds of thousands more people into poverty." welfarejournal.com/dwp-boss-signals-universal-credit-cut-for-millions/Millions of people on Universal Credit could see their incomes slashed by more than £1,000 a year, despite concerns that more families could be plunged into poverty, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has signalled. The UK government boosted the value of Universal Credit by £20-per-week, or £1,040 a year, in response to the financial pressures experienced by low-income families due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in the 2021 Budget that this “temporary” increase would continue until the end of September to help those who continue to struggle, including the many thousands of people who lost their jobs or saw their working hours reduced. However, Sunak also hinted that the uplift is unlikely to continue past the current six-month extention. Responding to his comments earlier this year, Joseph Rowntree Foundation Director Helen Barnard said cutting Universal Credit at the end of September “will pull hundreds of thousands more people into poverty as we head into winter. “Even before Coronavirus, incomes were falling fastest for people with the lowest incomes due in large part to benefit cuts”, she added. “Ministers know this short extension offers little relief or reassurance to the millions of families, both in and out-of-work, for whom this £20-a-week is helping to stay afloat. “This cut to Universal Credit will increase hardship when the economic crisis is far from over and undermine our national road to recovery. “It is not too late for the Chancellor to do the right thing: announce an extension of the £20 uplift to Universal Credit for at least the next year.” Also Read: DWP faces High Court legal challenge over denial of £20 per week benefits boost for 2million disabled people Asked today by the Evening Standard about whether the temporary boost would continue past September, DWP boss Therese Coffey signalled that it would probably be scrapped by winter. She said: “By then we’re very confident we’ll have a large majority of the population vaccinated. “The reasons why we’ve had lockdowns or restrictions in the past is because we needed to reduce the pressure on the NHS to reduce the transmission of Coronavirus. “By the time of the next winter…I think it will be much better equipped as individuals to be managing that and the pressure on the NHS and hospitalisation should not be an issue in my view, by then or my understanding.” Asked specifically about the £20 per-week uplift to Universal Credit, Coffey added: “We’re not anticipating, or I’m not anticipating, any further need to do stuff entirely out of the ordinary.” Commenting, SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford MP said: “It is now beyond doubt that Boris Johnson has no intention whatsoever of building a fair and equal recovery after the covid pandemic. “Instead, the Tories are repeating the same devastating mistakes they made after the last economic crisis, with massive cuts pushing millions of people into poverty, entrenching inequality, and inflicting lasting scars on communities across Scotland and the UK. “Westminster cannot be trusted with Scotland’s recovery. It’s clearer than ever that the only way to secure a strong, fair and equal recovery is for Scotland to become an independent country, with the full powers to invest in our economy and build the fairer society we all want to see.” He added: “This pandemic has exposed the deep inequalities that exist under the broken Westminster system. “The SNP government will use the limited powers of devolution to mitigate the damage caused by Tory cuts where we can – but it is essential that once this crisis is over people in Scotland have the choice of a fairer future with independence.”
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Post by Admin on May 16, 2021 20:13:08 GMT
DWP faces High Court legal challenge over denial of £20 per week benefits boost for 2million disabled people Legacy benefit claimants have been denied the £1040 annual rise that Universal Credit applicants have received. welfarejournal.com/dwp-faces-high-court-legal-challenge-over-denial-of-20-per-week-benefits-boost-for-2million-disabled-people/The High Court will determine if it was legal for the Government to deny almost 2 million people on disability payments the same £1040 annual rise that Universal Credit applicants have received. The High Court granted Employment Support Allowance applicants permission to appeal the DWP’s decision not to raise their payment in line with Universal Credit in a decision dated 27 April.
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Post by Admin on May 27, 2021 19:31:06 GMT
Mentally ill Universal Credit claimants ‘set up to fail’, says Martin Lewis Money saving expert urges government to "act now so that everyone can get the help they need with Universal Credit." welfarejournal.com/mentally-ill-universal-credit-claimants-set-up-to-fail-says-martin-lewis/New research by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI) – a charity set up by money expert Martin Lewis – warns that 100,000s of people with severe mental distress may struggle to get the support they need to properly manage their Universal Credit claims and avoid sanctions. The research also finds that while over half those with mental health problems need help with Universal Credit from family and friends, only one in ten has managed to nominate a regular helper.
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Post by Admin on Jul 2, 2021 6:14:23 GMT
Commonplace & standard practice now in killing people - DWP’s ‘excruciating PIP assessment torture’ helped cause my son’s suicide, says disabled mum By John Pring on 1st July 2021 Category: Benefits and Poverty www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwps-excruciating-pip-assessment-torture-helped-cause-my-sons-suicide-says-disabled-mum/A young disabled man took his own life, just weeks after the Department for Work and Pensions slashed his benefits, despite being warned he was severely depressed, malnourished, could not face leaving his flat, and had made several suicide attempts. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had been told by his parents in January 2019 that Ker Featherstone (pictured) had barely left his flat in two years, that he would often pass out when he stood up because of malnutrition, and even that his teeth had started to crumble. The department was also told that his anxiety and depression were so severe that he could not cope with visits from his own brothers and sisters, and that he had not washed in nearly 18 months. His disabled mother, Helen, spoke out publicly about her son’s death for the first time this week, inspired in part by the “amazing” efforts of Joy Dove.
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Post by Admin on Jul 9, 2021 19:10:34 GMT
DWP may have ‘secretly’ investigated twice as many claimant deaths already this year www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2021/07/09/dwp-may-have-secretly-investigated-twice-as-many-claimant-deaths-already-this-year/The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) may have ‘secretly‘ investigated around 50 claimant deaths this year. That’s according to a leading disability media site. So far, the DWP has refused to say why the figures are so high. This is concerning because it represents a huge increase on previous years. The DWP: deaths on its watch When a claimant dies in certain circumstances, the DWP looks at the case. As The Canary previously reported: “IPRs” are Internal Process Reviews. The DWP does these at local, not central, level. It carries them out when someone takes their own life. They also happen when a vulnerable claimant makes a complaint. IPRs were already controversial. Previously, the DWP admitted destroying some of these reports. It claimed it was due to data protection rules. Then, it set up the Serious Case Panel to look at how it handles serious incidents like claimant’s deaths. So far, it has not reported back on outcomes from the panel.
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Post by Admin on Jul 10, 2021 16:00:54 GMT
DWP silence over figures suggesting 50 deaths inquiries in just six months www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-silence-over-figures-suggesting-50-deaths-inquiries-in-just-six-months/By John Pring on 8th July 2021 Category: Benefits and Poverty Focus The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to explain why it appears to have launched more than 50 secret reviews into the deaths of benefit claimants in just the first six months of this year. This would be a huge increase on recent years, which have previously seen an average of less than 30 completed reviews a year. Figures released by the department in response to a parliamentary question showed it had started 97 internal process reviews (IPRs) into the deaths of claimants in the two years since July 2019. But figures previously released to Disability News Service (DNS) by DWP have shown that it completed 40 IPRs in the 2019 calendar year and another 20 in 2020, as well as just 17 in 2016, 29 in 2017 and 18 in 2018. Although these new figures do not allow for exact calculations, they do suggest that DWP probably started about 20 IPRs in the second half of 2019, 20 across the whole of 2020 and may have begun more than 50 so far in 2021. But when asked why the number of IPRs appeared to have rocketed in the first six months of 2021, a DWP spokesperson refused to offer any explanation. He also declined to comment on whether the increase could have been due to a change of policy on IPRs, an increase in the number of deaths of claimants linked to DWP’s actions, or DWP taking new steps to find out about more suicides and other deaths of claimants so that it could investigate them through IPRs. The new figures were released by Justin Tomlinson, the minister for disabled people, to Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Reynolds. Reynolds told DNS: “The sharp increase in internal process reviews is deeply troubling. Behind every number is a family who deserve answers. “The government’s cruel assessment processes are having devastating consequences and questions need to be answered. “How many reviews does it take before lessons are learnt and disabled people are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve?” Last December, DNS reported how new analysis suggested that DWP was failing to investigate the suicides of hundreds of benefit claimants every year, despite the vital lessons it could learn from such inquiries. Labour’s Debbie Abrahams, who has led parliamentary efforts to hold DWP to account on deaths linked to its actions, told work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey this week that she believed “we are really only scratching the surface of understanding both the scale and the causes” of such deaths. She called on Coffey again to explain why she was refusing to set up an independent inquiry into deaths linked to DWP’s actions. Coffey told the Commons work and pensions committee this week (watch from 10.47am onwards) that inquests provided an independent process to investigate such deaths. And when pushed again by Abrahams over the need for an inquiry, she said: I don’t feel the need to undertake that.” Asked if she thought “everything is fine in terms of the process”, Coffey said: “We are motivated as a department to help improve the quality of life. “It’s a key feature of our departmental plan.” But when Coffey said DWP was continuing to make improvements, for example to the benefit assessment process, Abrahams highlighted the DWP barrister who told last month’s high court hearing into the call for a second inquest into the death of Jodey Whiting that her suicide had not been part of a “systemic” DWP problem. Abrahams said: “Your lawyer said in the high court two weeks ago: ‘There are no issues.’ Do you not see the absolute contradiction?” Coffey replied: “No, I don’t. I suggest that we want to continue to make continuous improvements, like any process.” Her response comes despite DWP saying on its own website that it has set up a serious case panel, which first met in September 2019, to make recommendations “to address systemic issues identified from serious cases to prevent similar cases occurring in the future”. Only last week, DNS reported how a young disabled man took his own life in June 2019, just weeks after DWP slashed his benefits, despite being warned he was severely depressed, malnourished, could not face leaving his flat, and had made several suicide attempts. Coffey’s claim of “continuous improvements” comes despite nearly a decade of high-profile tragedies, legal cases, campaigns, research, protests, television exposés, parliamentary debates, and reports by MPs and other organisations into deaths linked to the department’s “fitness for work” regime. Despite not commenting on the new IPR figures, DWP did state this week that it had taken steps to improve how it learned from serious cases, including increasing the size of its investigation team, improving what it described as the “visibility” of IPRs, and setting up the serious case panel. It said that IPRs were intended to examine whether processes were followed correctly and how it could learn from the deaths of claimants. *The following organisations are among those that could be able to offer support if you have been affected by the issues raised in this article: Samaritans, Papyrus, Mind, SOS Silence of Suicide and Rethink
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Post by Admin on Jul 10, 2021 22:05:51 GMT
118,000 sick and disabled people were underpaid ESA benefits, DWP admit Shocking figure includes 7,000 sick and disabled people who have since passed away. welfarejournal.com/118000-sick-and-disabled-people-were-underpaid-esa-benefits-dwp-admit/Figures sneaked out today by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reveal that around 118,000 sick and disabled people were affected by underpayments of benefits when moved from Incapacity Benefit to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). The figures show that the DWP has explored a potential 600,000 cases of possible underpayment, of which 482,000 were found not to have been affected. However, 118,000 of the 600,000 potential cases have been substantiated by the DWP, with an average arrears payment of £5,000 per case. Around 53,000 of the 600,000 cases checked by the DWP were where the claimant had since passed away. In these instances, the DWP contacted 22,000 of the deceased relatives to aquire more information about the claims. It was discovered that 7,000 of these claimants had been underpaid ESA benefits prior to their death, with average arrears payment of £3,000 per person. The total amount of historical ESA arrears paid out by the DWP in the wake of this massive blunder has been a shocking £613 million. Around £26 million of this was paid out to the next of kin of deceased sick and disabled people, but the DWP claim there were 3,000 cases where they were unable to contact the deceased person’s relatives. Furthermore, there were 4,000 cases where the claimant had died and their next of kin did not provide the information needed to review the individual ESA claims. The DWP has urged people who have not responded to the Department’s requests for additional information to get in touch so that their cases can be “actioned” as quickly as possible. The publication of today’s figures is the final update on the checking exercise following on from the last release on 12 January 2020. The DWP hopes this will “reduce the administrative burden of answering Parliamentary Questions, Freedom of Information requests and ad hoc queries to ensure timely responses to public queries.” However, questions remain on whether the DWP could have missed cases where people may have been underpaid ESA benefits when transferred from Incapacity Benefit. And with the migration of disabled people from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) yet to be fully completed, the DWP will want to avoid another error on this magnitude.
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Post by Admin on Aug 10, 2021 19:20:12 GMT
Press Release: Disabled People’s Organisations call for extension to consultation on Disability Green Paper dpac.uk.net/2021/08/press-release-disabled-peoples-organisations-call-for-extension-to-consultation-on-disability-green-paper/DISABLED PEOPLE NEED MORE TIME’: OVER 100 ORGANISATIONS CALL FOR EXTENSION TO BENEFITS GREEN PAPER DISABLED people must be given a six week extension to provide crucial feedback on the Health and Disability Green Paper, say over 100 disability organisations. In a letter to the Minister of Disabled People, Justin Tomlinson MP, the Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) and Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) – expressed concern that the millions of people impacted by the policies being consulted on in the paper will not be able to respond if they aren’t given more time. After two years of waiting for the Health and Disability Green Paper it was published on the 20 July 2021 – just a few days before the Government’s summer break, but still with the standard 12 week consultation timeframe. This, the organisations argue, does not make the ‘reasonable adjustments’ that millions of disabled people need. Instead, they state the timeframe puts ‘people in a position where they are either not able to respond in time, not going to be able to respond properly, or do not have time to engage with the people they work with in developing their responses’. Ahead of the publication, Z2K asked over 1420 people1 with experience of the benefits assessment process about their views on the Health and Disability Green Paper. The majority (88%) said they were either ‘not at all confident’ that the Government would use the feedback to make changes to the benefit assessment process, and over two thirds (74%) thought the Government wouldn’t listen to the changes people – who have been through the assessment process themselves – wanted to see made. Ella Abraham, Z2K’s Policy and Campaigns Manager and Campaigns Co-chair of the DBC, said: “The Health and Disability Green Paper is a really important consultation, with proposals that could have detrimental consequences for disabled people. Yet the Department of Work and Pensions published it a day before Parliament went on summer recess. “We’re calling on this Government to stand by their 2019 manifesto commitment to empower and support disabled people and act as an ally. They must at the very least extend the consultation period of the Green Paper. This will support the very people impacted by the policies being consulted on to be able to respond meaningfully and for these potentially very far-reaching policies to be properly thought through.” Ellen Clifford, on behalf of the DPAC, said: “Proposals in this green paper will directly impact on the lives of millions of disabled people, potentially in very serious ways, so it’s imperative that there is an opportunity for people to have their say. Too often over previous years, changes have been made to the social security system that have caused widespread detriment. “Measures included in the paper such as merging Personal Independence Payment with Universal Credit threaten an end to non-means-tested disability benefits which would severely reduce the ability of many disabled people to look for and stay in employment. They cannot be taken lightly and legally Ministers must take steps to ensure they fully understand the impacts of policies before they introduce them.” Anastasia Berry, Policy Manager at the MS Society and Policy Co-Chair of the DBC, says: “It is only fair that after the long wait for the Health and Disability Green Paper to be published, disabled people, including those with MS, are given the time they deserve to feedback. With five chapters, and over 40 questions which range from thoughts on advocacy support to changing the whole system, this is a mammoth consultation. The standard 12 weeks simply doesn’t allow for the ‘reasonable adjustments’ many disabled people need to respond. “The Government has said it wants to be able to bring forward a white paper quickly, but it is far more important that people with MS are given the time to digest and engage with the consultation properly. If we can wait two years for them, then surely they can wait six weeks for us.” Read the DBC and DPAC’s full letter to the Minister of Disabled People here - DBC & DPAC Letter to Minister for Disabled People on Green Paper disabilitybenefitsconsortium.com/2021/08/06/dbc-dpac-letter-to-minister-for-disabled-people-on-green-paper/ENDS Notes to Editors For press enquiries please contact: Samantha Banks, MS Society Senior Press and PR Officer. E: Samantha.banks@mssociety.org.uk T: 07825 441208 References: www.z2k.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FINAL.pdfThe Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) is a network of over 100 organisations with an interest in disability and social security. Using our combined knowledge, experience and direct contact with millions of disabled individuals, people with long-term health conditions and carers, we seek to ensure that Government policy reflects and meets the needs of all disabled people. For our full list of members, see disabilitybenefitsconsortium.wordpress.com/dbc-members/Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) is about disabled people and their allies. DPAC is UK based but we know that disabled people in other countries are suffering from austerity cuts and a lack of fundamental rights. We welcome all to join us in fighting for justice and human rights for all disabled people.
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Post by Admin on Aug 23, 2021 14:19:10 GMT
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Post by Admin on Oct 11, 2021 10:40:43 GMT
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Post by Admin on Oct 11, 2021 13:59:21 GMT
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Post by Admin on Oct 13, 2021 9:05:34 GMT
Government breaks own rules to cover-up how disabled claimants are treatedwww.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/4434-government-breaks-own-rules-to-cover-up-how-disabled-claimants-are-treatedThe government is breaking its own rules on publishing research in order to hide evidence given by 120 disabled claimants about how they are treated by the DWP. The cover-up comes as the DWP fights to prevent a further inquest into Jodie Whiting’s death, which would look at whether there are life-threatening flaws in the way disabled claimants are supported. Stephen Timms MP, chair of the commons work and pensions committee, wrote to Therese Coffey, DWP secretary of state in August, asking for a copy of a report entitled The Uses of Health and Disability Benefits, which interviewed 120 claimants about their experiences of receiving PIP, ESA and Universal Credit. The report was completed in 2020, but has still not been published and no reference has been made to it in any subsequent green paper relating to disability or benefits. In an entirely dismissive two sentence response Coffey replied to Timms that it was not necessary for the government to publish the report and it did not intend to do so. However, Timms has written back to Coffey asking again for a copy of the report. He has pointed out that when the research was commissioned, the bid pack stated that the successful bidder would have to create: “A final report of the research findings for publication” and “a one-page summary of the research for the DWP website” Timms has also pointed out that the government has a protocol for the publication of social research whose principles include the following: Principle 1. The products of government social research and analysis will be made publicly available. Principle 2. There will be prompt release of all government social research and analysis. Principle 3. Government social research and analysis must be released in a way that promotes public trust. The government is clearly breaching all of these principles and Timms has now asked for an explanation from Coffey by 11 October. As Timms himself says: “Some 120 disabled people gave up their time—at DWP’s request—to talk about their experiences of the benefits system, in the expectation that they were taking part in research that would be published and used to inform policy. DWP should be listening to the voices of disabled people. Instead, the Secretary of State seems to have simply brushed this important report under the carpet. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the Government is refusing to publish this research because its findings are too embarrassing. It must now publish the report without further delay.” It may be that there is nothing in the report that relates to the avoidable deaths of claimants. But if a picture is painted of an organisation that is institutionally cynical, disablist and incompetent then it may be very relevant indeed. On the basis that when it comes to pressure, every little helps, Benefits and Work has made a freedom of information request for a copy of the report. Given that the bid required a report to be written for publication there can be no possibility of the department pleading cost or confidentiality issues. The DWP will drag it out, but eventually they will almost certainly have to hand over a copy. Meanwhile, you can read the full correspondence on the work and pensions committee website Too many people getting PIP and being placed in ESA support group, says DWP secretary of statewww.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/4437-too-many-people-getting-pip-and-being-placed-in-esa-support-group-says-dwp-secretary-of-stateTherese Coffey, the secretary of state for work and pensions has said that PIP has “grown in a way that was not anticipated” and that it needs to be targeted “even more so to people who need that help”. She also refused to rule out merging PIP with universal credit and said that the benefits system needs to stop “encouraging people to show how they really cannot do any work at all”. The comments made at a meeting at the Conservative Party Conference, will dismay all those who have already endured the move from incapacity benefit to ESA, based on the idea that ESA would focus on what claimants could do rather than what they could not do. Many of those same claimants have also faced the move from DLA to PIP, based on the claim that PIP would be better targeted on those who needed support. Coffey’s comments are particularly ironic given that PIP was promoted by the DWP as being more effective at providing help to claimant with mental health conditions. Yet the example Coffey chose to give of where PIP is failing was the increased help for young people with mental health issues. “PIP has certainly grown in a way that was not anticipated when it was introduced. “To give you an example, three out of four young people who claim PIP have their primary reason being mental ill health. “That in itself is 189,000 young people who currently receive benefit focused on that. There may be other benefits they receive as well. “So that’s one of the things where I’m very conscious one of things I’m trying to do as Secretary of State is very much the issues we face are downstream, and what are the things we need to do to get more upstream. “And I hope that might give us the headroom then to… how is it that people can think the benefit system is fair. “And I think by being able to target that even more so to people who really need that support, may improve that prospect of public perception.” In relation to ESA, Coffey said that the original expectation was that only 25% of claimants would be in the support group rather than 80% and that she wanted to change the focus to “what people can do, rather than the benefit system being driven currently by what you cannot do”. When asked if there were any plans to merge UC and PIP, Coffey refused to rule it out, saying that “everything is on the table”. You can read the full report in the Mirror
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Post by Admin on Oct 16, 2021 18:29:56 GMT
Families share experiences of DWP deaths after viewing ground-breaking exhibition By John Pring on 14th October 2021 Category: Arts, Culture and Sport www.disabilitynewsservice.com/families-share-experiences-of-dwp-deaths-after-viewing-ground-breaking-exhibition/The families of disabled benefit claimants whose deaths have been closely linked to the actions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have met for the first time after visiting a ground-breaking digital exhibition. The Museum of Austerity uses the families’ verbal testimony – and “volumetric capture” techniques that have produced high-quality holograms – to recreate the circumstances that led to the deaths of eight claimants in the decade of austerity from 2010. Several of the families met at a central London hotel on Friday as guests of the English Touring Theatre and the National Theatre’s Immersive Storytelling Studio, which have produced the exhibition. Each of them then experienced the exhibition for the first time. Most of the relatives had never met each other before, and they spent hours sharing their experiences. Alison Burton, who has led the campaign for justice for her father-in-law Errol Graham, who died three years ago, said: “To be in the room with people who are suffering exactly as you are, you feel normal.” Jill Gant, whose son Mark “lost his benefits and his life due to the failure of the DWP’s fitness for work assessment process”, said the exhibition had been “deeply moving and powerful”. She said: “I was so grateful for the opportunity to experience not just Mark’s story but the others’ too.” She said that meeting the other families had been a “heart-warming experience”. Gant, who was accompanied by Mark’s sister Cathie, added: “I seriously hope that this exhibition is seen by many people, including those responsible for making and implementing DWP policy in this area.” Mo Ahmed, whose sister Sophie also features in Museum of Austerity, said the exhibition was both “powerful” and “emotionally draining”. He said: “I challenge anyone to be in there and not be moved by all the stories.” He said the exhibition could be “as close as we are going to get to justice”. It is hoped that the exhibition, directed by critically-acclaimed theatre director Sacha Wares and still a work in progress, will tour the UK, and will also be seen in other countries. Lee Burton, Errol’s son, said the exhibition was the first time he had listened to his wife, Alison, being interviewed about his father’s death, which included her description of identifying his body. He said: “When I heard her speaking and the rawness of it, that really hit me because I didn’t know how much she had been suffering.” He added: “I think it will touch masses of people. It was really emotional.” Alison said the exhibition had recognised who Errol was and the “pain and suffering he endured” in the months leading to his death. She said: “When you walk in that room, everything just hits you. “It’s overwhelming, but I don’t regret it at all. For that 30 minutes, I didn’t feel alone.” Gill Thompson, whose brother David Clapson is represented in the exhibition, said the images were “so real” and the story of what happened during the decade of austerity was “explained so well”. But she said she could not believe that claimants were still dying, a decade after the death of Stephen Carré. Stephen Carré’s story is summarised at the entrance to the exhibition, alongside a timeline of some of the key political moments from the decade of government-imposed austerity. Imogen Day, whose sister Philippa died in 2019, said the exhibition was a “distressing” experience but also “absolutely stunning”. She said: “They managed to turn so many tragedies into a rallying call.” Philippa’s mother Jane said: “I feel very angry, but I am also amazed at the skill and artistry that it took.” Imogen added: “It just feels needless that [DWP] knew about this suffering for so long and nothing changed. “The negligence is so extensive that it feels deliberate.”
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Post by Admin on Oct 21, 2021 19:10:57 GMT
DWP exploring single new benefit to replace Universal Credit, PIP and ESA The way a 'one-stop system' would work and how it could affect you explained www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/dwp-exploring-single-new-benefit-21900914The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is exploring the idea of combining three benefits into a new one-stop combined payment. Universal Credit, PIP (Personal Independence Payment), and ESA (Employment & Support Allowance) could be replaced by a single scheme, designed to make the whole system simpler. The proposals have been put forward in the DWP's document Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper, published in July.
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